Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:36:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JoseRS.pdf: 1457742 bytes, checksum: 2f02b1d902f74f6756aecf4c07ded437 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-24 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / In the present work, we investigated behavioral changes associated with the increase in Zif268 protein expression within telencephalic areas of the tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus that correspond to the mammalian hippocampus (HC). We used 13 male individuals of this species, collected at the Federal Agrotechnical School of Rio Grande do Norte, under SISBIO license number 19561-1. Four animals had their brains removed and were submitted to a Western blot with antibodies for the Zif268 protein. The remaining animals were separated in two different groups: a control group (n=4) and an exploration group (n=5). Animals from the exploration group were exposed to an enriched environment with many sensory cues novel to them. Control group animals stayed in the environment they were already habituated to. After 90 min from the onset of exposure to the new environment, animals from both groups were submitted to intracardiac perfusion with fixative, and the brains were removed, cryoprotected and frozen. After that, brains were sectioned at 20 μm and the sections were subjected to immunohistochemistry for the Zif268 protein. We verified that the Zif268 protein is likely conserved in the brain of T. hispidus, which showed antigenicity for the antibody anti-Zif268 made in mammals. In animals from the exploration group, we detected an increase of the Zif268 protein in the Septum, Striatum, Dorsoventricular Area and in cortical areas corresponding to the HC. This increase was proportional to the amount of environmental exploration, with maximum positive correlation in the hippocampal subareas Medial Cortex (R = 0.94 and p = 0.004) and Dorsomedial Cortex (R = 0.92 and p = 0.006). The data corroborate the notion that the reptilian hippocampus, as well as the mammalian HC, plays an important role in spatial exploration. / Neste trabalho, foram investigadas altera??es comportamentais associadas ao aumento da express?o da prote?na Zif268 em ?reas telencef?licas do lagarto tropical Tropidurus hispidus correspondentes ao Hipocampo (HC) de mam?feros. Foram utilizados 13 animais machos do lagarto T. hispidus, coletados no campus da Escola Agrot?cnica Federal do RN, sob a licen?a do SISBIO (n.19561-1). Quatro animais tiveram seus c?rebros removidos a fresco e submetidos a Western blot com anticorpo para a prote?na Zif268. Os animais restantes foram separados em dois grupos distintos, grupo controle (n=4) e grupo explora??o (n=5). Animais do grupo explora??o foram expostos a um Ambiente Enriquecido (AE) com diversas pistas espaciais desconhecidas pelos animais. Os animais do grupo controle permaneceram no ambiente ao qual j? estavam previamente habituados. Transcorridos 90min do in?cio da exposi??o ao ambiente, animais de ambos os grupos, foram submetidos a perfus?o intracard?aca com fixador, e os c?rebros foram removidos crioprotegidos e congelados. Posteriormente os c?rebros foram seccionados a 20μm e submetidos ? imunohistoqu?mica para Zif268. Verificamos a conserva??o da prote?na Zif268 no c?rebro do T. hispidus, com antigenicidade para o anticorpo anti-Zif268 produzido em mam?feros. Nos lagartos do grupo explora??o detectou-se aumento da express?o da prote?na Zif268 no Septo, Estriado, ?rea Dorsoventricular e ?reas corticais que correspondem ao HC (C?rtices Medial CM, Dorsal CD, Dorsomedial CDM). Esse aumento ? proporcional ? explora??o do ambiente novo, com m?xima correla??o nas sub?reas hipocampais do grupo explora??o, C?rtex Medial (R = 0,94 e p = 0,004) e Dorsomedial (R = 0,92 e p = 0,006). Os dados corroboram a no??o de que o hipocampo reptiliano, assim como o HC de mam?feros, desempenham um papel importante na explora??o de novos ambientes.